Crockpot Beef Stew with Herb Biscuits

There are few things better than a delicious bowl of stew on a chilly night in the winter. Granted, "chilly night" in Louisiana generally means 40-50 degrees, but I digress. I found this recipe on Pinterest (shocker!!) and I knew I had to give it a try. I've made a few beef stews before, but I always felt like they were lacking something. Either there wasn't enough flavor, the meat and veggies were either too tough or too mushy, etc. This recipe was perfect, and the aroma alone coming from the kitchen was enough to assure me that it would be a winner. I fully planned on serving this dish two nights in a row, but Will and his friend polished off any remaining leftovers. :)
Source: Best Crockpot Recipes

Ingredients:

2 lbs top round steak or lean stew beef, in 1 inch pieces
2 celery ribs, sliced
4 carrots in ½ inch slices
2 onions, sliced
¼ cup water
¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¾ cup beef broth or dry red wine (I used the red wine. Highly recommend it).
8 sliced mushrooms
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with juice

For the Herb Dumplings:

½ cup milk
1 ½ cups Bisquick
¼ teaspoon dried sage, crumbled
¼ teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
½ teaspoon dried thyme

Directions:

1. Combine the beef, celery, carrots, onions, tomatoes, thyme, pepper, mustard, mushrooms, and wine or beef broth.

If you are using wine, use all the salt.

If you are using beef broth you might not need it depending on the saltiness of the broth so taste it to see.

2. Cover and cook on a low heat for 8 to 10 hours or a high heat for 4 or 5 hours. The vegetables and beef will become tender.

3. Combine the flour and water and stir this slowly into the beef stew.

4. Combine the Bisquick, thyme, sage and rosemary and stir in the milk until the mixture is just moistened.

5. Drop spoonfuls of the dough on to the hot beef stew, then cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the herb dumplings comes out clean.